Friday, October 13, 2006

Okay, I'm a nut. Maybe I'm just a foodie. I love to look at pictures of food and all these creative people getting up at the crack of dawn to make beautiful healthy food for their children is really very inspiring.

Run your fingers over to http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ and go to the archives and start reading.I can't wait for her cook book to come out and I'm not even Vegan. What I find unique about Jennifershmoo's site is that her young son rates his lunch. Jennifer lets us know what he ate and what he liked. I like that. I like that such a young child will try so many different kinds of food too! My hat is off to Jennifershmoo!

I teach 3 yr olds. I always repack whatever they don't eat so their mom's will know if they like their lunch or not. Some mom's would rather I just dumped the leftovers, but I feel responsible for letting them know if their kid is eating or not.

Personally I wish there were more information out there about food and behavior.

My oldest is now 18, but she is still allergic to peanuts and soy products. When she was small if she ate peas she would become a whiney mess within 10 minutes. I have taught kids who after lunch are dazed, they walk around as if they are in a fog, they don't listen and sometimes have mood swings. Were they just tired or did they have a reaction to what they ate for lunch? I'd like to know.

Back to the web, I'm busy searching for a pumpkin cookie/granola bar/protein bar that doesn't have peanut or soy in it. I'd like the oldest to be able to eat it too.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

On one of the lists that I am on we have been talking about grief.We are a fiber group but we don't discourage off topic discussions.

When my dad passed away from pancreatic cancer I thought I'd grieved over the 11 months mom helped him live with that horrible cancer.I was strong for my mom.I had a wonderful dream where my dad came to say goodbye to me and he told me he was okay.Several months later at the funeral for another family member, one I was not very close too, I broke down. I finally really cried. I didn't have to be strong. I didn't have to be angry.

My dad died over 8 years ago.My mom had a yard sale this weekend.

How does this relate?Well, she opened the closet downstairs where she had stored a lot of his clothing.She was surprised.She thought she had given most of his clothing away.(His cowboy boots to a bookfair display and some of his suits to Seminary students. Other shoes to DAV.)

Today, she sold some of dads clothing at the yard sale and it was okay.

It was strange to look upon his cowboy hat sitting in the sun with a price tag on it and feel okay.The sun was bright.The air crisp.The hat brought warm feelings and memories of Dad and DD1 both in their cowboy hats.Dad with a grin on his face.

The hat didn't sell.We put it back inside the house, mom will hang on to it a bit longer, and that's okay.